lou: now for your comments, at the fiscal cut is only way to get spending cut out of this government, geronimo. and carol says sandra on the cover of time magazine, but it . [laughter] melissa: here comes gerri willis. ♪ ♪ gerri: tonight a warm and likable a. whatthey say could damage your car and the triple a agency. welcome to "the willis report." senator kay bailey hutchison and sarah

gerri: hello, everyone. speaker john boehner and nancy pelosi threatened over the president had to go over the president had her go. we have two guests. welcome to you both. last night, we covered the details of the president's opening gambit in the fiscal cliff talk. he wants a $1.6 trillion tax increase, 50 billion and stimulus spending. and the white house has the ability to raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval. a ry big deal for folks there. today, the presidt is out there, trying to drum up support among the public. not in washington or with congress or the senate. here is what he had to say. >> it is not acceptable to me,

and i do not think it is acceptable to you for a handful of republicans in congress will middle-class tax cuts hostage simply because they don't want tax rates on upper income folks go up. gerri: it sounds like the same old, same old. the president has been making the same comments again. is this any way to sell a plan? >> there really is not. the president is not being serious about this. the fact that the president is out there campaigning on this rather than negotiating, it means that those that are negotiating, such as secretary geithner, they probably don't feel bound by what the president is saying. this is the first gammons and certainly not a serious offer. >> mitch mcconnell laughed out loud on camera at the plant. what do you make of that? >> he had every reason to. let's look at this plan for what it is. a mssive tax hike. instead of offering tax hikes, which is something that

republicans have been mandated, he wants more spending and he's not giving us any entitlement savings and on top of that, like you mentioned, he has no limit onis authority. so he's spending just as he has over the past four years into oblivion. gerri: so there is no debt ceiling. he has a checkbook, he can use it anyway that he wants to. that is shocking and astonishing to many folks. there is also this. the president has talked over and over again about a balanced approach. everybody has to give up something. everybody gets a little something. so he proposes $1.6 in tax hikes. only 400 billion in cuts. in what way is this balance? >> i think this has been a mistake the republicans have made. i do not believe that we have a revenue problem. in the long run, we have a

spending problem and it is mostly an entitlement problem. i think it was a mistake for speaker boehner and others for revenue on the table to begin with. that being said, they all agree in a balanced approach. what the president has put forward, it does not even adess the problems. if you don't start negotiations talk about medicare, they simply are not serious about the long-term fiscal health of this country. gerri: it absolutely is about those entitlement programs. as you look at this huge conundrum, it seems that we are saying that we are starting at the wrong end of the stick. we are talking about how much money we can come up from wealthy ople. instead of talking about what the government is doing that shouldn't be doing. >> that is right. mark is a smart guy and i agree with him. the spending issue, we simply cannot rein in hile we are focusing on taxes. you shall howl nonserious the president is.

he sent timothy geithner on a fools errand. he said he wants a balanced approach. but the balance is that republicans come up with everything, and he is allowed kharkov on the debt limit. it is hard to understand what the balances of the equation, besides allowing him to retain his approach, which is continuing to spend and rack up massive deficits and ontinuing higher taxes without any plan that bears that out. remember that his budget hikes taxes and still spends $47 trillion over the next 10 years. gerri: to that point, you look at the approval rating now going down for the first time since the election at 49%. i think it tells you something. maybe american people are looking at this and it looks a whole lot like campaigning to me. it is like the election never happen. we are still campaigning on the campaign trail.l. today in pennsylvania, talking about what needs to be done. shouldn't he be in the white

house hosting the negotiations himself instead of sending his foot soldier, timothy geithner, the fellow who put together the biggest bailout in american history? talking about someone who is going to be good at negotiating on our taxpayer dollars. i would think that timothy geithner s not the man we met i would agree with you. this is actually shocking. i'm going to say that the president won, no contest there. can we get past the campaigning? are really just shows a lack of seriousness. gerri: all right. i would like you to hear eric cantor today. everyone is reacting to the president's plan. here's what he had to say. remap when he won his reelection, we won our reelection. this is not a game. gerri: it was only a matter of time before somebody said rope a dope. you have to bring out all the hyperboles come all the saints. you know, i'm thinking that it's very possible. if you look at the media

coverage that republicans are going to get blamed for any mistakes that happen, any deal that is not stuck. when you thin? >> here's the thing. you have to remember, for this to happen, you have to have two opponents. so far, we only have one guy in the rain. republicans have come to the table and said let's discuss what we can do moving forward. what we have from the president of him blaming republicans after he laid out a plan that does nothing to confront the fiscal insolvency with country needto get under control. i think at the end of the day is that republicans have continuing to be wanting to find a solution to the problem and the president has walked away from finding a conclusion that would actually allow us to get spending under control. as mark mentioned earlier, it is because we are unwilling to look at entitlements and ask ourselves what can be done to save the prgrams. gerri: we have a lon way to go.

mark and maddie, thank you so much. the beat goes on. i think that on december 31, we will be sitting here having this same conversation. >> oh, goodness, i hope not. gerri: thank you so much. here is another topic. a different topic. china's top newspaper, giving the u.s. a time lashing over the fiscal cliff. the people's daily. did you ever read that one? they blasted our congress threatened to unleash what they called a self-created recession hurt the world economy. the paper went on to school lawmakers here saying that the u.s. should act like a responsible power. oh, boy. of crse, china's interest is purely self-interest here. the last thing he needs it needs is a slowdown in consumer spending. after all, where would the chinese and their economy e if it weren't for america?

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gerri: look, i am no expert on media bias, but th media solving the fiscal cliff. the huffington post reporting that the offer to avert dister sparks gop outrage. "the new york times", the front page story today that the tax code is less progressive than in 1980. back when ronald reagan was president. let's take a look at federal

income tax in this country. these numbers according to the tax foundation. the top 1% pay 37.4%. the top 1% of earners. they pay almost 40%. taking a look at this, the top 5% pay nearly 60%. it doesn't seem quite right. the top 10% -- they pay 71%. federal income taxes, top 10%. picking up almost the entire time. if you wanted to ask her to be more progressiv i don't know, maybe the top 10% pay 90% of taxes. 95%? 100%? i think this whole argument is hogwash. the tax code is not there, but not because the wealthy are not paying enough. but because they pay too much money. everybody needs in the game. if you are part of the system, every time the government as a

new federal oversight panel or commissions a study of the effect of exercise on shrimp -- you remember that, right? millions of dollars for the expeence. ridiculous. who can blame you if you do not want to pay? it's not your money at risk. also, the costco founder and ceo is in the headlines because of an editorial in "the wall street journal" today. the executive spoke on his behalf of the democratic national convention in charlotte. it was surprising when costco became one of the schools of awding the tax dividend increase. for costco, here is the map. they were pay $7 per share to shareholders. the company is going to borrow money to do that.

look, dividends are typically taken out of earnings. i fully support executives offering to take dividends early, but the idea of shared sacrifice -- well, that's disingenuous at best. he will make 4 million more than he would have had he waited for the tax change. a plan being considered by a plan being considered by congress, coming up next. look, if you have copd like me, you know it can be hard to breathe, and how that feels. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

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gerri: investors are bracing themselves for three tax hikes. in particular, the top rate on long-term capital gains, set to skyrocket from 15% to as high as 44% from january 1. that includes a 3.8% tax for obamacare. taxes go on and on. what are advisors telling their clients? the answer is maybe not so much. rick adelman joins me now. this is a letter you wrote your clients. when i thought was interesting about it is that you don't get a ton of direct advice here.

at the end of the day come you don't know what's going to happen. >> that's right, i'm an advisor who can devise because we don't know what the devices would be yet. we have a month before the end of the year. we knew it was going to happen as of january 1, we would be able to say definitively let's capture capital gains and save ourselves money. order, it's definitely not necessary. for the moment, we are saying that we are preparing. we are examining every client accounts so that we are ready to make a move if needed. let's n pull the trigger to set. gerri: one of the things people are concerned about, dividends and dividend paying stocks. wifi on? by southern? what you make of that debate? that is obamace and that is the law and it is not expiring. >> those increased taxes won't apply to everyone. it depends on your income and marital status. the corporate ceos are much smarter than those in washington.

if the taxes are dramatically higher on vidends, guess what they're going to do? gerri: they won't pay them. >> exactly. it will convert them to capital gain. if washingn thinks that they can actually control behavior, they are kidding themselves. gerri: i think it's so interesting that you can't control, you know, you're not going to change how much the wealthy spend. they will spend no matter what even if you raise taxes. gerri: it's nonsense. >> there's a disconnect between what they want to have happen what will happen. people with money are going to vote and adjust their investments accordingly with the help of people write me. gerri: i hope you get some good advice. >> we will be much more definitive in the next few weeks. gerri: by then, i hope it's not too late.

we have until december 31. >> what we do the trade now on december 27, it doesn't make any difference. >> it will all be different on the investments. >> but we are not getting out of the market. we are doing a simultaneous cell and rebuy. it is less than 24 hours. gerri: unless you get out of that asset class. >> that is an investment motivated decision. gerri: but those are the discussions that you are making a distinction without a difference. you know, if it cost me money, it cost me money at the end of the day. >> if we have to do something different, we have plenty of time. don't panic just yet. gerri: we can panic after christmas. i want to ask you something that you brought up. people talking about t tax

man. the iris going after 401k. let me explain about why this is a popular story. the irs goes after everything. it has been one of those areas that has been hands off and people are nervous and worried. they have $16 trillion worth of debt. you say that it's a big concern? >> it is not a fear that the irs will still money in your 401k. that is nonsense and reckless commentary by those are saying it. wh congress is looking at is reducing the tax reduction you get. are contributing to an ira or 401k. you must not have as much of a tax incentive is to put money into the account and you do not have to worry that the government is going to steal money that is artier. gerri: all right, rick, thank you for coming on tonight. i am talking about the dollar bill. government report out this week doing away with the dollar

version of the dollar bill, the paper version, saves tax haters $4 million of the next 4.5 years. but most of us generally don't like the idea. in the past five years, $2.51 billion coins. most are part of the federal reserve in production. it ended a year ago. according to the gal, the savings from the dollar coin, being able to say circulation for 30 years, while the paper bills have to be replaced every five yeers or so. my vote is for the paper bill. but what do you think? should be given a dollar bill? la mancha gerriwillis.com and vote on the right-hand side of the screen. i will share the results of in the show. >> coming up on "the willis report", it's a the tug-of-war for democrats and republicans over immigration reform. senator kay bailey hutchison is here to talk about her alternative to the dream act. and why her plan is the solution for children of illegal immigrants. student loan debt ballooning.

$1 trillion. why does the government continue to make it so easy y to borrow? our panel of experts weigh-in. also, it's that time of year again. the holy spirit is in the aair. the best airfare deals. the best airfare deals. we are on the cas you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fast, long lasting gaviscon®. to a currency market for everyone. the potential of fxcm unlocked. nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential. the potential of yelp unlocked.

nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential. i look up to a lot of the older heads, you know, the innators, the heads of the art movements of the past. they keptt really edgy, and, like, a lot of the latin american muralists and the latin american artists, their styles are very unique and new to their time, you know, somewhat controversial, but that's who i look up to mainly. personally, i'm very excited about going to college. it's something new, and it's something different than what i'm used to. i'm definitely going to be a little out of my element, but that's what makes it so exciting is that, you know, it's something fresh. well, there's so many opportunities that i think i could miss out on if i didn't go, you know. gettingnto college takes planning and vision. you know, it's just like when i take a brick wall and turn it into a canvas for my art. painting's helped me realize i've got what it takes.

>> from the fox business studios, here is gerri willis. gerri: math and science experts. its known as the stem jobs act. science technology engineering and math. all the stuff that we need. it is unliky that there will be passed in the democratic controlled senate.

granting residency to young people brought into the country legally, some are calling this is achieved back. the gop version of the dream act. we have senator kay bailey hutchison with us. senator, welcome back. >> thank you for having me. gerri: tells how your legislation is different from the dream act? >> are legislation gives the legal status to the young people who are really in a conundrum. they have grown up here. >> we do give them a legal status and we don't pretend that i'm forgetting in line if they choose to go that citizenship

route. >> you have to be under 14 years old when you came here, you have to be under 28-year-olds now. you can serve four years in the military areas or you can have six years in which to get some kind of job training or degree. college degree or a vocation degree. something that gives you a skill. from that point, you will get a second visa that will allow you to work for four years and have the ability to stay here as long as you want to and abide by the law. gerri: i want to ask you about why to how this legislation. one of the issues in the wake of the election, lots of critics say that republican party in particular, we need to be more supportive of immigrants. have some kind of path to citizenship. you are legislation does not go

that far. should it go further, and why is it important to make some steps to have these people be, were fully integrated into society? >> what we are dealing with is people that have come illegally. in this case, they are children who really didn't have a choice. they are here. they have been educated in america. we are trying to give them a legal status that does not allow a fear of deportation, and it allows them to go to college or school, allows them to stay here they want to. if they want to become citizens, they can apply and get in line and abide by the law as it is today. we don't change the law would prohibit them. but we don't give them the cut in line for the people who have awaited for years to get that green card for the citizenship.

gerri: switching gears here a little bit. he wrote an op-ed calling on washington. calling on congress and the president. not to raise taxes on small business operators. what would you like to see happen? >> i think we are going to rack this fragile economy if we raise taxes on the people who are creating jobs. they want to create jobs. we need to give the people and small business a stability and predictability. they need to know what to expect. all the president talks about his more taxes and more taxes. on top of health care, that is why we have not gotten any better off in unemployment and when the president took office. i just think it's time for us to stop talking about making it harder to create jobs, and

instead say that he championed small-business and we want you to grow and expand and give us a great economy by hiring people. gerri: senator, i like what you said about stability and predictability. thank you for coming on the show. it's great to have you here and i hope you come back soon. >> oh, thank you. i love to come on. gerri: meanwhile, is the government putting your car at risk? triple a warning. a high blend of ethanol approved last year, we have more with th vice chairman of edmunds.com. thank you for coming on the show tonight. when i heard a story i couldn't believe it. okay, so how can we tap in that the federal government could prove this and it is so bad for so many cars?

>> well, first of all, i think that aaa is correct in issuing the warning because there is a lot of risk for motorists. the epa has authorized that they have mandated it and it is important to note that the political coalition that was in favor doesn't rely exist anymore. gerri: that's the way bureaucracy works. to your point, every state in the nation, those selling e-15 right now. nebraska, kansas, and iowa -- tell us about the impact of this on a car. >> sure, there are a couple of things. first, we should point out that just about all the gasoline in the united states have some amount of ethanol. the issue is increasing that amount. ethanol, and some as some know, has a couple of characteristics. one has to do with solvents.

it can dissolve hoses or other components and it also observes water. so brings water to the fuel system. if you can separate, you can get the water tat actually is not good. gerri: why did we start using it in the first place? >> i think that the e-10, which is typically what is found at the pump, as you start to increase the level of ethanol, you are producing some problems the. gerri: some 228 million vehicles, 228, could get damaged. is that every car, on cars that are more susceptible than others? >> older cars are the ones that are more susceptible. there are some vehicles that can actually function well with ethanol as high as 85%. the big question -- there is no easy answer. gerri: however, we should say

that bmw, chrysler, toyota, they have also indicated that they will not cover fuel related problems. so do you own a car that is a bmw or toyota or a vw bug? any of those? if you don't want to put that in there. i guess my cncern was that it is only in three states right now, but couldn't come to other states? is there any sense that it will be pushed to a wider market? >> well, i think there is a risk. it could be hard to find e-15. but there is a federal mandate to increase the amount of ethanol a year by year. the only realistic ways to meet that mandate would be to increase this mix. so you're probably going to be seeingore of this going on across the country. it's a growing risk. gerri: last question. if i am hardly one of those people who use this in my car,

which i do? >> if there is any risk, the damage is done. i would just continue to use the fuel and fill it up as normal. there is a real risk that isn't a guarantee that you would damage the vehicle, but i would err on the side of caution. gerri: unbelievable. how the federal government helps with each and every day. thank you for coming on the show tonight, it's great having here. >> always a pleasure. gerri: still to come, almost free holiday travel. reaching new highs this week. should the government get out of the loan business? the loan business? we have a debate coming up.

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gerri: a ticking timebomb inside the federal budget. putting taxpayers on the hook

for billions of dollars. student loans, that's what i'm talking about. escalating with delinquency rates hitting an all-time high. outstripping any other consumer debt. our student loans getting out of control? thank you for joining us. we really appreciate your time. the president is talking about higher education and how it should be an economic imperative. listen to this. >> a higher education is no longer a luxury. it is an economic imperative in the 21st century. it is part of what we need to succeed in this global economy. and i'm going to fight for every young person is willing to work hard to get an education. gerri: shold everyone have a college degree? >> if i was the president, i think you might has well said

let me be clear. every student should start with 30,000 dollars of debt and maybe a bankruptcy. it's absolutely asinine. the current system we have in place is nothing short of immoral. we are putting students that it is economically imperative for them to get an education, but then we are putting them in that situation a situation was. not only are there no jobs, starting with 30,000 dollars of debt is not a way to start your life. gerri: let's get marked in him. i'm going to give you more time. we would like to get more time. mark, is it asinine to these kids start their lves with so much debt and give it to everybody? >> well, college benefits -- the students who have college degrees earn 70 to 80% modents e degrees earn 70 to 80% more. the federal government gets twice as much federal income revenue from someone with a college read this one without. it is an investment of boo the future of the individual in the

country. gerri: okay, what do you think? >> revenue? are you kidding me? you think they would be going to college without this program? that's asinine and not true. saying that you cannot raise tuition as much in two years. having futures go up, while you better your product and make it worthwhilen a portable. it is not that way right now. it's hurting my generation. i get to be on tv, but guess what? i'm still struggling to pay my loans because of the system. gerri: all right, we will let mark getting it. this is an interesting point. there are no controls. where are the cntrols? gerri: is that any way to treat our taxpayer dollars? >> theederal government school

is to enable access college education. we have twice as many people in college now visited several decades ago. the problem is that the government is not focused on the possibilities. but the government needs to do is make their own limits contingent upon what the next generation will do in regards to paying back the debt or not. >> government picking winners and losers -- would you ever get a loan to someone who could not get back? no, you wouldn't. if it was a private investor, they could help the students and measure whether or not whether they are getting something that is worth something. the government can't do that. i don't think it's fair either. that is why it has to be a private thing. the only thing that is fairer. gerri: mark coming into this question. what would have been a college

education -- the system in this country -- it's all public dollars were pulled out. >> welcome you have a glass of higher education. you have only the wealthy going to college. you would have of the college is failing. the private sector isnot willing to fund loans to eve student. they are no more capable of choosing how to fund loans appropriately than t federal government. just look at what happened in 2008. we went from 16 to two dozen. but it is being subsidized by the government. gerri: you make the point that the public sector should be completely out. mark says they can't do that because there would be no college education. he responded that? >> marksn two minutes ago that the sector is profitable and brings the government money by lending it out.

i think the private sector can turn something up profitable and that way higher education can't run roughshod over my generation gerri: the last word, mark? >> well, what we need to do is reduce the shift from government investment where they have been reducing the grants on a per capita basis and invest more in in the grants. >> more grants, more money. batna. trillion dollars worth of student loans. great idea. gerri: all right, you agree to disagree. mark enron, thank you both for coming on. i really appreciate you both talking. thank you so much. still to come, by "two cents more". some deals out there that are practically free this holiday season. find out where you need to go next ♪

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it was the biggest race of the year, and no matteoqat, i was gonna win. someti[js...things happen you just canoi explain. )a ♪ oh, i believe there e angels among us... ♪r>

and some things ar more importanthan winning. #% ♪ st iíwn to us #]from somewhere up(above ♪r2 #o♪hey come to you and me ♪ i don't remember who won the ra that day...r2 ♪ to show usfr how to live, ♪ ... bui'll(never forget how i felt. ♪ to teach us f:how to give ♪ to guide us with the light of love. ♪ gerri: looking at every nickel and dime during the holidays, who doesn't love a great deal? we have you covered with a round up of a great list. one of them is a free convertible ride in hawaii. the executive from smart travel joins me right now.

the great deals that are out there right now. starting with kids sail free on disney? tell us about that? >> these deals are almost free. a lot of them you have to buy a little something, but this offer is great. children under 17 can travel on disney. six to eht nights, you must have two adults that are also staying withthe children. gerri: flying free to ski. can you tell us about that? >> you fly american airlines or united come you can basically book a ski trip. for every four nights, every third airline ticket is free. you have to book by december 1. so you have to make a quick decision on that one. gerri: that is pretty darn good. and free flights to the promise?

>> yes, with the bahamas, this is an interesting deal. once you get to nassau, once you get there, you can get free airfare. these are places that, you know, are very touristy. some people haven't even heard of them. the catch is you havto book a four night stay. gerr i love that warm weather this time of year. now, this is very smart. >> the national park deal is wonderful. this year you can find free admission on holidays like martin lutheking day, special designated weeks or days. this could save a lot of money for the family. you could go to yellowstone which is normally 25-dollar entrance fee and some arge similar rates. this is a wonderful deal. gerri: okay, what is the venture

in puerto rico? >> it depends on what you want. there are a few things you can do. you can book a vacation in puerto rico. you can go to a national force for free. you can do kayak tours. i have done this, it is great. i recommend it. a lot of different things that we can do. this ends up being a very great deal. gerri: i was surprised to learn that holiday airfares are going through the roof. they are up 5%. can you tell us about how to avoid paying more? >> you really need to book early. the airfares will keep increasing as the holidays approach. one thing i recommend is that you can go on the kayak.com, even some of the airlines like southwest -- they will send you an e-mail when the price drops. it's a great indicator of when you should buy.

you don't wait too long. it will go up even more as the holidays approach. gerri: thank you so much for the advice. we will right back with our question of the day. get rid of the 1 dollar bill? don't go away. having you ship my gifts couldn't be easier. well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and a santa to boot! [ chuckles ] right, baby. oh, sir. that is a customer. oh...sorry about that. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. fedex office. olaf gets great rewards for his small business! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small busins earns 2% cash back on every purchase, ery day! helium delivery. put it on my spark card!

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the. gerri: we talked about this earlier in the shell. congressional auditors say doing away with the dollar bill and replacing it with dollar coins could save taxpayers some four and a half billion dollars. americans have not shown a lot of appetite for these coins. what do you think? should be good rid of the $1 bill? here is was some of your tweeting the.

probably, but the public has never accepted coins. very true. another says, hell, no. no one to carry 30 pounds of point. i have enough change already. all right. okay. i get it. we asked this on gerriwillis.com. 16 percent said yes, 84 percent said no. you're torn. here are some of your e-mails. why not put one question on the tax form for the so-called rich people. do you hire people are employed people? if yes the texas 25. if no, he tax rate is 90%. that would be painful for a lot of people. my wife and nine are not among those making more than 250,000, but i see no reason to single out people with that tax bracket. i congratulate their efforts. i think if obama were truly in our rear of fantasy would apply a temporary income tax surcharge to all employees of bailed of companies and banks instead of

increasing taxes on innocent bystanders. good idea. finally, the administration wants paper performance in the education system with teachers. how about pay for performance in congress. that is a great way to save $87 million every year. love hearing from you. send me an e-mail. gerri@foxbuness.com. finally tonight, i often in the show with my "2 cents more" on something that has me fired up, even angry. tonight i wanted to highlight something that made me happy. in new york city police officer habecome a hero after this photo appeared on facebook. look at that. as of tonight over half a million people of like it. what it is showing his an officer giving, as man and you pair of boots and a cold night in times square. in arizona woman snapped the fun